What is Soziopolis?

Soziopolis – Observing Society is an internet platform which meets three intellectual needs in particular: first of all, the wish for (daily) news about sociology and its related disciplines. By providing a variety of information including notes on events, calls for papers or submissions, conference reports, job offers and new appointments, but also book reviews and press roundups as well as contributions on relevant anniversaries or historic dates and informative portraits of influential social scientists, Soziopolis aims to assume the role of a daily newspaper for sociologists.

But Soziopolis also intends to function, secondly, as a weekly or quarterly journal, in that it offers a wide range of background information on social science topics, for instance in texts that comment on research trends, literature reviews aimed at shedding light on larger sociological discussions, or dossiers and introductory texts. The platform will also provide space for essays on contemporary phenomena, interviews with researchers, videos of talks or discussions, and contributions to ongoing debates. We will also publish opinion pieces and editorial articles, commentaries and columns addressing social, cultural, political, or academic debates in other countries.

Thirdly, we intend to occasionally take a sociological look at the arts, as well as photography and advertising, and also to include the presentation and discussion of interesting material from sociological archives on the website. Moreover, we will cooperate with print and online media, so that selected content from their repertoire will also be made available to Soziopolis users.

How does Soziopolis work?

The editors of Soziopolis are based at the Hamburg Institute for Social Research and cooperate with H-Soz-Kult, the most important German platform for historians, and its sponsoring organization, Clio-Online e.V. A network of social scientists and institutions both in Germany and in other countries supports the project.

Whereas the main editors at Hamburg Institute for Social Research are in charge of coordinating and administrating the project, sociological expertise is provided by a group of approximately forty academic editors who are responsible for suggesting topics and suitable authors within their field of research. An editorial board comprising internationally renowned researchers offers strategic advice.